Spirited
by Muffin-Bunny
Summary: AU. Spirited Away, Yu-Gi-Oh GX style! Judai Yuki is lost in the Spirit World, but luckily he has befriended a spirit called Johan, who is helping him get back home. Spiritshipping.
1. Chapter 1

Muffins: Welcome to Spirited!

Judai: It's like Spirited Away, only with different stuff happening and with different characters!

Muffins: *sobbing* Best Studio Ghibli film EVER!

Rei: I do something in this!

Jim: Me too!

Karen: *growls*

Jim: I agree.

Muffins: What did Karen say?

Jim: *pats Muffins on the head* Never mind…

Muffins: Don't do that! It makes me feel short…

Johan: *facepalm* Once this lot have stopped being silly, this can actually start.

Muffins: Yes, quite. I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX, blah blah blah; I don't own Spirited Away or Studio Ghibli, blah blah blah, if you think I do and you sue you'll be wrong 'cause I just said I don't own any of the stuff damnit!, blah blah blah! Enjoy the thing!

~Spirited…~

"How much longer?" Judai called from the back seat of the car

"We're nearly there Judai. I think." Rei poked her head between the two front seats to smile at Judai.

"I'm just not comfortable having Karen eyeing me like that; plus it's been a while since she last ate so…" Judai fidgeted and glanced at Karen. Karen glared back. Judai shivered, it was like she could understand every word. Karen growled quietly. Judai meeped and looked away quickly.

A voice came from the driver's seat. "Rei?"

"Hello? I'm here." Rei twisted round to look at Jim.

"You said 'I think', and you were meant to be checking if we went the right way."

"Oh."

"So can you tell me where we took a wrong turning, or are we meant to be in the middle of a forest?"

"Well… The thing is… Umm…"

"You completely forgot to check?"

"Yes, that would be the case."

"So can you find where we are now?"

"Hold on a sec." Rei began rooting around in the bag of stuff at her feet. "I swear I put it in here somewhere… Or maybe it's in the boot…"

The three friends, Jim, Rei and Judai had gone on holiday together during the summer holidays, so of course Jim had to bring Karen. Now they were returning home after a relatively uneventful week at the beach, and after Judai managed to get Jim to take the same wrong turning four times on the way there (they only went the right way the fifth time because Jim and Rei decided to steal the map from Judai), Rei was given the job of navigating on the way back. Jim could have done it, as he actually knew how to read a map correctly, but didn't trust any of the others to drive his car without crashing it or damaging it beyond repair, so insisted on driving instead. Despite Jim lacking an eye, and so depth perception, he was still the best driver out of the three, so no-one argued with him on that point. This would have been fine, but for the fact that they couldn't make the trip home in one day, so had to stop at a hotel overnight.

"So how long is it gonna be now? Karen's still looking kinda peckish…" Judai looked nervously out the window, where sunset was approaching, albeit quite slowly. "And it's gonna be dark soon…"

Rei pulled out a map and began unfolding it. "Umm… Here we are, in this patch of wood here." Judai, Jim and Karen leaned over to see the dark green blob on the map she was pointing at. "There's still quite a way to the place we're staying at tonight, but it looks like there's a small town on a little island thingy nearby, so we could see if we could stop there for the night."

"One problem with that."

"What's that?"

"The car's stuck in mud, we'll have to walk."

"Oh." Rei peered out of the window and saw that yes, the car was indeed, stuck in mud. "That should be fine, come on guys." Rei pushed her door open, and squelched down into the mud. The others followed, willingly on Karen's part, but less so on Jim or Judai's.

After about five minutes, during which Karen had fallen behind, so Jim had taken pity on her and strapped her to his back, they came to a town just like Rei had said they would.

"That's strange, there's no-one here." Judai looked around a little worriedly.

"That can't be possible, there's got to be someone here!" Rei looked around too, her eyes searching for hints of human habitation.

Jim similarly scanned the nearby buildings, his eye drawn to any movement, however small. He was the first to spot the lights.

As the light from the sun dimmed and cast a red glow down the street, Jim spotted lights on in a building nearby.

"Hey guys look at this, someone does live here." The other two gave a sigh of relief. A house with a sign above the door had a soft electric light coming out of its windows, signalling life in the town.

Rei was ecstatic. "We can sleep now! Then we can set off tomorrow and get home as planned! Come on!"

Judai was more wary. "The lights are on, but I can't see anyone in there… Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Jim rolled his eye "Do you have a better one?" He knocked on the door and it opened quietly.

Rei peered around his shoulder. "The door's unlocked, maybe we could find somewhere else…"

Jim motioned at the sunset. "There isn't time, pretty soon it'll be dark and then we're stuck, we can't go looking for anywhere else now." He started into the building.

"Wait up!" Rei follow quickly behind him.

Judai didn't. He had looked over at the sunset when Jim had gestured at it and had seen a figure silhouetted against it. "Hey, guys, there's someone…" Judai looked and saw his friends had already disappeared into the house. He could come back and look for them later, but if he let that person disappear, he wouldn't be able to find them again.

He ran, following the person down a series of streets and alleyways until they arrived at a bridge, similar to the one he and his friends had crossed when entering the town. The figure and looked at the sunset.

Now that the person had stopped moving, Judai saw that it was a boy about his own age with spiky, slightly messy teal hair and large apple green eyes wearing a blue uniform-like outfit. He was standing in the middle of the bridge, looking out at the sunset with a far-away look on his face, like he'd lost something precious to him.

Judai called out to him "Hey! Do you know where I and my friends could stay for the night?" The boy looked over, and his eyes widened, he ran over to Judai.

"You shouldn't be here!"

Judai blinked. He had been expecting something a bit more friendly. "What?"

"You shouldn't be here, they're lighting the lamps. Go, I'll distract them. Run now and you'll make it, don't stop for anything."

Judai was confused. "But why do-"

"You have to get out of the town before the trail of lamps, or the connection will be lost! Go!" the boy pushed Judai back down the street and blew a lot of small crystal fragments from his palm which drifted towards a large building at the other end of the bridge. Judai decided to take his advice, and ran, following the trail of lamps that lit silently one by one with a soft orange glow. He came to the building Rei and Jim had entered before the lamps there had lit, and found the light inside it had gone out. He guessed he'd have long enough to look for them and still leave the town in time, so he ran inside.

"Rei! Jim! We have to leave now! We can't stay here!" He heard a small sound come from the front room, and ran in to find Karen sitting on her own, surrounded by two small piles of clothes. Judai recognised Jim's neck scarf, eyepatch and hat in one pile and Rei's sleeveless red jacket and tall red boots in the other. His friends had disappeared. Judai ran out into the street, and found that the lamps at the other end had already lit.

Judai reached the dried-up river he, Jim and Rei had crossed earlier using the bridge and saw the lamps by the bridge a little way along the bank were still lighting. He ran forward, feet crunching through the dried up plants coating the riverbed. In the corner of his eye he saw the last lamp light, and was swept away in a wave of water that came thundering out of no-where down the river.

He emerged a little way further down the river, coughing up water, soaked to the skin and shivering. His friends had disappeared, he was all alone in this strange town, and had just nearly drowned. He crawled to a nearby tree and leaned against it, panting. He was shaken by what had just happened, and needed some time to rest. He fell into a doze.

Meanwhile, the boy with teal hair and green eyes was searching frantically for the boy he had met on the bridge with two shades of brown in his hair and eyes the colour of melted chocolate. He knew the boy hadn't made it home; he needed to help him, or the boy would be in danger. He didn't know why that mattered; something just told him the boy was important.

~Spirited…~

Muffins: Cliff-hanger!...?

Johan: Unless you've seen the movie.

Muffins: Nope, I've changed some of the plot from the movie, though I'll admit it's not much different.

Judai: I'm all soggy now! Why did you make me nearly drown?

Muffins: It's to make it more dramatic!

Judai: *glares*

Rei, Jim and Karen: And now where not in the story anymore, bye! *disappear.*

Muffins: The beginning was written really different to the end…

Judai: That's 'cause you were awake when you wrote the first bit, and half asleep when you got to the end!

Muffins: Too true… I'm too sleepy to keep writing so yeah bye 'til I do the next bit. *Falls over and starts snoring on the floor.*

Judai: *stares* that was quick…

Johan: Review if you want to, Muffins is usually asleep or tired, but she could read them when/if she wakes up.

Judai: Byeeee! *waves*


	2. Chapter 2

Muffins: *wakes up* Hello _minna-san_!

Johan: How long did you sleep for?

Muffins: A couple of days or something… But I managed to sleep-write this chapter at the same time. :D

Johan: *face palms*

Judai: *is eating fried shrimp* Huh? Muffins is awake!

Muffins: Yup! Thank you loads to the people who reviewed! I'm so happy! I checked the thing, and it wasn't even 12 hours after I'd posted the thing, and two people had already left things! Thanks so much!

Judai: The last thing there was reviews. You can work out the other two. *goes back to eating fried shrimp*

Johan: Muffins does not own us or anything Yu-Gi-Oh GX 'cause she doesn't own the company, and she doesn't own Studio Ghibli or Spirited Away either! If she owned either of them, this would probably be the 10th anniversary movie instead of _Bonds That Transcend Time_.

Muffins: *stares* You did that without me having to tell you to.

Johan: Yep. Disclaimer over! It's Spirited time! *cue _Star Driver_ style sparkles*

~Spirited…~

Judai dozed against the tree, his head nodding gently somewhere between his shoulder and his chest. His fringe flopped over the top half of his face, covering his closed eyes. He sat in a slumped over kneeling position with his hands lying in his lap. Johan could have watched his sleep like that for a long time, but seeing his hands in his lap, already nearly transparent, reminded him of what he had to do.

Johan knelt down in front of the sleeping boy, and shook his shoulders gently. Judai groaned slightly and reached out in front of him to push away whatever was waking him up. His hands went straight through Johan's torso. Johan shook him a little harder.

"Wake up, please. Wake up Judai!"

"'Kay, jus' stop…" Judai mumbled, trailing off in mid-sentence to rub sleep dust out of his eyes. He looked up at Johan with blearily. "Hey, aren't you the guy I met on the bridge?"

Johan nodded. "Yes, but you have to let me help you, Judai." He pulled something out of his light blue shirt.

Judai, meanwhile, was distracted. "My hands! They're disappearing!" He rubbed his hands together vigorously in a vain attempt to stop them vanishing. Johan tried to catch hold of one of Judai's wrists, with no luck, so instead put his hand on Judai's shoulder instead.

"That's what I was trying to say. You have to eat something from this world: we're in the Spirit World now, it'll stop you disappearing."

Judai gulped, his chocolate eyes fixed on Johan's bright green one. "Disappear… Like my friends did?"

Johan looked down sadly. "No, they were captured by the sorceress who rules Spirit World, but I'll explain that in a bit, you have to eat something, please!" He held his other hand in front of Judai's face, holding a piece of fried shrimp.

Judai blinked. "That's my favourite food."

"I know, please just eat it."

Judai looked up suspiciously. "How did you know?" He pulled himself away from Johan slightly, pushing himself against the tree at his back.

"I don't know how, I just did." Johan stared at the fried shrimp, his eyes glazing over slightly. He looked lost, just as he had on the bridge. "I just knew…"

Judai sighed. "OK, I'll eat it." He reached out towards the shrimp, but his hand passed through it: the transparency had now spread past his elbows and was half way to Judai's shoulders. He began to panic, "Huh? Help me!"

Johan put his hand on the top of Judai's head and pulled him against his chest comfortingly. "It's alright Judai, don't panic." He stroked the back of the brunette's head gently, his fingers twisting slightly in his soft, silky hair. Judai's face, hidden from view by Johan's light blue shirt, was now a vivid shade of pink, and was making its way on to a deep red flush. He pulled himself away from Johan before the heat of his face made Johan's shirt catch fire, thankful that it was dark enough for Johan not to be able to see what colour his face was. Johan held his hand out to Judai. "I guess this is the only way you can eat it now. Sorry."

"It's OK, better than disappearing." Judai bowed his head slightly and ate the shrimp from Johan's hand, his blush flaring up again into a now violent shade of scarlet. Johan blushed silently in the darkness as well, also thankful for the lack of light, though his didn't reach a red quite as dark as Judai's. Judai finished the shrimp and moved back, keeping his head down to hide his burning face.

"Well? Are you feeling any better?" asked Johan, leaning down to peer under Judai's fringe with a small smile on his face. He held his hand out with his palm facing towards Judai.

Judai looked up, his face only retaining a slight hint of blush and reached out almost tentatively. His hand made contact with Johan's, and he curled his fingers around Johan's, sighing slightly with relief. Johan smiled warmly down at Judai, half of his face illuminated by the glow of the lamps in the nearby street.

"Thank you… Umm…" Judai trailed off again, "Sorry, I don't know your name."

Johan paused for a moment in the act of getting to his feet, and his face hardened slightly. "My name is Johan. We should get going." He straightened up and offered a hand to Judai so he could stand up too. Judai took the offered hand and Johan pulled him, albeit a little shakily, to his feet.

"Where do we have to go to?" Asked Judai, wondering what Johan meant about his non-existent last name.

Johan took hold of Judai's wrist and lead him quickly through a series of narrow alleyways, away from large crowds and any streets, on the way he explained the situation to Judai. "You're a human, so the spirits here will be looking for you. You have to go the sorceress who owns that bathhouse-" He gestured to the large building showing above the nearby houses that Judai had noticed when he first saw Johan on the bridge. "-and rules Spirit World and ask her for a job there, she can't say no, and she can't hurt you when you're working for her. I can you get into the bathhouse, but then I have to leave you. I can leave you with some people, they'll help you. All clear?"

Judai's was a little confused but decided he could probably cope that way. "I guess so." They had arrived at a small gate leading through a small garden to the bridge where he and Johan had met just a couple of hours ago. Judai made to walk through the gate but Johan stopped him.

"If you go out now, the spirits will see you, take you to the sorceress and she'll do the same thing to you that she did to your friends. I won't be able to help you if that happens." He reached into his shirt again and produced a small amount of glittering rainbow powder which he sprinkled over Judai's head. Judai sneezed loudly and Johan had to pull him down behind the fence so no spirits would see them. "You'll be invisible, but only if you hold your breath as you cross the bridge."

"OK." Replied Judai, slightly startled by his own sneeze and rubbing his nose so there wouldn't be another. Johan smiled, nodded, and pulled Judai to his feet again.

"Stay close to me as we cross, don't run ahead."

Judai nodded mutely and held tight to Johan's arm with both hands. Johan winced slightly and Judai loosed his grip with a quiet "Sorry."

Johan opened the gate and lead Judai forward into the procession-like crowd of spirits making its way to the bathhouse. Judai pressed himself close to Johan's arm to avoid having to touch a large brown furry spirit with small green paws, large purple eyes and a pair of frantically flapping white feathery wings that flew past him. Judai began to feel light-headed and dark spots began to appear in front of his eyes as they neared the end of the bridge. "Almost there." Johan murmured to him, "Just a little further."

It was just their bad luck that, at that moment, a small, yellow thing with a pair of googly eyes on stalks wearing nothing but a smudge of red lipstick and red and white underwear chose to jump at Johan with its arms outstretched. Its stalk-eyes waved like some form of unnatural seaweed, and it shrieked in a shrill voice that made passing spirits shudder and cringe away from it. Judai, obviously, was similarly shocked by this underwear-clad, horrifying apparition flinging itself at the bluenette, all the while sounding like a scratchy old recording played at full volume of an opera soprano gone horribly wrong. Or just opera singing. Needless to say, Judai was surprised by the arrival of this thing that looked like a goldfish given legs in all the wrong places and jolted backwards, half falling over and dragging Johan with him. He gasped and immediately regretted it. The ball of gunk with eyes that had been given life screeched louder than before and pointed at Judai, wailing at the top of its voice.

Johan acted quickly. He grabbed hold of Judai around the waist with one arm and with the other gestured at the howling yellow spirit. A sphere of rainbow coloured energy blossomed from his palm and enveloped the spirit. It hung motionless in the air, trapped and silent in the sphere of magic. It was already too late. The spirit had drawn attention to itself with its ghastly appearance, and had directed the attention to Judai when it screamed. Johan threw his hand in the air again and spreading more rainbow dust up to fall onto him and Judai. The world slowed, taking on a slight rainbow tint. "This way, hurry. It won't last for very long." Johan and Judai ran to the side of the bathhouse and Johan pulled open a small hatch in the wall that opened to a garden filled with bushes covered in sky blue flowers. They plunged through it and closed the hatch just as time sped up again and all the spirits on the bridge began to search for the human they had seen there barely a second ago. Johan and Judai hid behind a bush together, shielded from the view of anyone that would be looking out the of the screen door on the other side.

"I'm sorry… I breathed…" Judai panted quietly.

"No, you did well to get that far." Johan rubbed Judai's back soothingly. "It'll be alright in the end."

Judai sat silently, hunched over something on his left wrist. Johan tried to peer around Judai's head to see what it was. Judai looked up at Johan and held out his wrist, it was a simple metal bangle, plain except for two words carved into it, nearly worn away by obvious year of wear and being rubbed, as Judai had been doing. "An old friend of mine made it for me when we were very young; it helps when I need comfort. It's quite sad; I can't even remember what my friend's name was now. Or what he looked like…"

Johan touched the words inscribed on the bangle gently. "You lost contact with him?"

Judai looked down at the bangle again, his fringe covering his eyes. "Something like that."

The two sat in silence as voices called out for Johan from the other side of the screen door, becoming more and more hysterical. Johan peeked over the top of the bush for a moment and sighed. "I should go to them now, or they'll come looking."

Judai was jerked out of his reverie and looked up at Johan with fearful eyes and grabbed hold of his shirt. "Don't leave me here! Please!"

Johan reached over and put his hand over Judai's forehead, sending him a mental image of where to go as he told him: "There's a door on the other side of this garden, leave through it when things get a bit quieter and go down the staircase by the side of the bathhouse. At the bottom of the stairs is a door to the boiler room where you'll find the boiler man. He can help you get to the sorceress; just tell him that I sent you." Johan stroked the top of Judai's head tenderly, then stood up and hurried to the screen door. He pulled it open and called out "I'm here! What's the panic about?" before disappearing from view as the door closed again. Judai was left alone crouching nervously behind the bush. He shook himself and began to make his way quietly across the garden.

~Spirited…~

Muffins: Gah! I did it again!

Judai: *looks up from plate of shrimp* Did what again?

Muffins: Stayed up for about three hours writing this fic when the rest of my family were asleep!

Johan: Why not do it in the day next time.

Muffins: *sobbing* But I only get the ideas when I'm meant to be asleep!

Johan: *raises eyebrow* Seriously?

Muffins: Seriously.

Johan: Well… Sucks to be you!

Muffins: … It's a good thing you're pretty and I love Spiritshipping, otherwise something bad would happen to you in this fic.

Johan: I know I'm pretty, but something bad alread- Mff! *is gagged by Muffins*

Muffins: No spoilers allowed! Also, what didja think about my attempt at fluff? Well, there's probably gonna be more like it! People who don't like Spiritshipping won't like this fic much.

Judai: In the movie, the bit you did in chapter one was about 15 minutes in, and this one was longer, but only about 5 minutes more of the movie.

Muffins: Really? Meh. It's past 1AM, I'm going to sleep. *falls over snoring*

Johan: *has escaped from the gag.* Now answer these questions! *More _Star Driver_ style glittery stuff* Who do you think the sorceress is? Who is Komaji gonna be? Who's going to be Lin? Just try to guess who all the people in the movie are gonna be. Send it in the form of a review! If you get it all right… I guess you get to write it instead of Muffins or something…

Readers: But we wanna read the story, not write it!

Johan: Then I dunno, free cyber cookie?

Judai: But I ate all of those already.

Johan: Oh. Forget that there was gonna be a prize of some sort, but still guess about the things I said! *can't be bothered to say them again.*


	3. Chapter 3

Muffins: Hello to the people who read this fic! Muffins has returned!

Johan: You never went anywhere…

Judai: And why are you talking in 3rd person?

Muffins: *ignores* Yeah, this one took a bit longer than the others 'cause I got teh evil writer's block!

Johan: Are you ignoring me?

Judai: I think she's ignoring both of us.

Muffins: The next one'll take even longer 'cause I'm back at school now, and we have exams in literally… tomorrow.

Johan: But that's really early.

Muffins: I know. *sad face*

Johan: Are these ones important?

Muffins: The ones next year are.

Johan: Oh. That's OK then!

Muffins: Yep! *happy face* Enough blah-ing from me! The chapter is here!

~Spirited…~

Judai left the garden by a door hidden behind a bush with lavender coloured flowers on it. Before he went through it he looked back at the garden, bathed in moonlight; it looked so serene. He sighed to himself and slipped out of the door, closing it gently behind himself in an attempt to make as little noise as possible.

Judai found himself at the top of a flight of stairs attached to the side of the bathhouse. There was a wall on one side, and the other was a long fall to the ground below. The stairs were obviously old and may have once been used, but had not been for a long time; because of this, they had suffered years under attack from the elements and no had repair. Although the night was quite bright due to a clear sky and bright full moon, there was a cruel wind whipping across the wall, blowing Judai's clothes and hair to and fro.

Judai bit his lip: there was no going back, and no-one to help him if this went wrong. This was his only chance to do this; he could make it if he kept close to the wall.

Judai was nearing the bottom of the flight of stairs when nausea struck. It wasn't fear of heights; Judai didn't suffer from that, so it was something else. His vision blurred, becoming smudged with dark black smears that nearly blocked out everything. He felt a sudden pain in his head and cried out, his voice lost in the continuous gust of wind blowing past him. He felt dizzy, his head spinning; why was this happening now of all times? Judai staggered forward still, almost tripping over the stairs and keeping a hand constantly on the wall by his side. Numbness began to spread along his limbs, starting with his feet and hands; it was definitely not a result of being out in the cold wind. Darkness covered his vision, wiping out any ray of moonlight trying to creep past his tightly shut eyelids. From the depths of the darkness Judai saw a fait golden glow, the only ray of light in his world. The stairs beneath Judai's feet and the pain in his head disappeared and the light brightened, as though the source of it was getting closer. He was floating through the darkness, weightless and feeling like little he had left his physical body behind.

The vision suddenly vanished as Judai staggered into the wall at the bottom of the stairs and his head crashed into it, the vision shattered and feeling returned to his arms and legs. A new pain entered his head, though this one kind of pain was more familiar to him. Judai breathed heavily and rested his forehead against the wall, eyes closed. When his pulse had calmed somewhat, Judai opened his eyes, looked around and saw the door Johan had showed him. His hands shook slightly as he took hold of the doorknob and opened the door. He was greeted with another gust of air, which smelled hot and stuffy. Judai moved gratefully into the warmth, closing the door behind him, sealing out the biting wind.

Judai sighed gladly and looked down the corridor he found himself in. It was quite wide, but seemed narrower than it was because of the numerous pipes, pressure taps and small boilers that were attached to the wall. They gurgled quietly among themselves and spat out puffs of hot steam at short intervals. At the end of the corridor, there was a fiery orange glow silhouetting a strangely shaped figure. After a moment's hesitation, Judai ventured down the corridor and stared at the sight that greeted him.

In a large dip in the floor, a large number of small, black soot bunnies with eyes carried lumps of coal as large as they were across the floor to the fiery entrance to a massive boiler. They dragged the coal to the hatch, which opened and shut every couple of seconds, and threw the coal into the furnace within. The soot bunnies then skidded back across the floor to a series of tiny holes in the opposite wall, squeezed through, and remerged carrying more lumps of coal.

Judai barely noticed the soot bunnies, though, his attention was directed at a hunched over figure, which cast the silhouette on the wall. He had his back to Judai, but Judai could see six arms, one turning a cog, two grinding dried ingredients and the rest dipping into various pots and jars by his side and adding the contents to the mixture. As Judai watched, the boy finished grinding the assortment of dried ingredients, added them to a large vat of water in front of him and pulled on a red and black wooden block that dangled in front of him. The block shot up to the ceiling, and disappeared amongst the pipes that led up there. The water below him drained out of the container it was in through a pipe attached to the bottom of it.

The boy shouted at the soot bunnies, "Alright you slackers! Take a break." The dust bunnies squeaked happily and skittered back to the holes in the wall where they lived, some of them still dragging lumps of coal with them, and disappeared. The boy leaned back in his seat slightly and stared at the looming boiler in front of him, muttering "I'll get out of here soon, then I'll have people to do things like this for me."

Judai edged around the corner and called out tentatively. "Are you in charge of the boilers?"

The boy glared at him. "Of course I am, I'm Manjoume Thunder! Who else would I be?"

Judai blushed a little, "I don't know, I'm new here and I want you to give me a job."

"Go away; I don't need any more workers."

"Johan sent me; he said you'd help me get to the sorceress."

Manjoume snorted "I can't help you with that, I can't leave this room. I have no idea why Johan sent you here. Now go away and bother someone else."

As if in reply to Manjoume, a girl about Judai's age with elbow length blonde hair opened a small sliding door on the other side of the room and entered, carrying a couple of dirty dishes balanced on a small tray in one hand, and a much larger wicker basket on her arm. She slid the door closed behind her, careful not to drop anything, before looking properly into the room. She saw Judai and stiffened, her eyes narrowing as she took in the scene before her. Everything in the room became completely motionless. The girl watched Judai, eyes revealing no emotion. Judai watched the girl, cautious and wary. Manjoume watched them both, attempting mild indifference despite having genuine interest as to what would happen next.

The girl sucked a breath in slowly and Judai let the one he'd been holding out quietly. The girl spoke to Manjoume without looking at him. "Manjoume, why is there a human here?"

Manjoume stopped pretending not to care; no-on was paying him any attention anyway. "He wants a job here. He says Johan sent him."

The girl frowned and turned to Manjoume, temporarily forgetting Judai was there. "Why would Johan do that?"

"Beats me."

"Maybe _she_ made him do it."

Judai was tired of being ignored. "Johan said you could help me."

The girl looked thoughtful for a moment. "If we do this for Johan, he'll owe us. Then we can get him to do something for us." She shrugged, "Yeah I'll help you, just do what I tell you to and you should be OK."

Judai relaxed and inwardly sighed in relief "Thanks."

The girl smiled slightly at him "I'm called Asuka."

"Judai."

Asuka picked up a dish on the floor next to Manjoume and added to the pile on the tray, then walked to the dip in the floor and poured the contents of the wicker basket in. Dust bunnies came streaming across the floor to collect the various coloured stars in a pile. They swarmed over it, hiding all the colour with their tiny black bodies before the crowd dissipated and they drifted away in different directions, each of them clutching a couple of coloured stars each. Asuka then spoke to Judai "You can leave your shoes and socks here, the dust bunnies can look after them."

Judai nodded and removed his footwear, watching as a flock of dust bunnies gathered and carried off his shoes. The shoes proved to be larger than the dust bunnies, as they jammed in the holes in the wall, the dust bunnies squeaked in annoyance and Manjoume yelled at them for it. He followed Asuka out of the small door she had entered through, looking back briefly and wondering if he would ever leave the bathhouse by this way again before he closed the door behind himself.

~Spirited…~

Muffins: Yay! I had no idea how to write this bit! That's why this might be/is (mentally delete as appropriate) very crap/people are OOC (once again, mentally delete as appropriate)!

Johan: *has Judai plushie sitting on his head* Another reason the chapter took really ages?

Muffins: Yep! 8D

Johan: … What are you on?

Muffins: Sugar!

Johan: When did you-

Muffins: While you were reading it! YAY!

Johan: Oh dear…

Judai: *takes plushie off Johan's head* What's this?

Muffins: It was in the form of cookies!

Judai: Yay cookies! *randomly flings plushie behind him* I eat cookies all the time, but I don't go like that.

Johan: This is what happens if Muffins eats cookies.

Muffins: Cookies? I LIKE COOKIES! *Judai plushie hits Muffins on the head* Huh?

Johan: This could be a problem. Anyways, bye!

Judai: byeee!

Muffins: What? *hyper-ness wears off* I'm sleepy now…


	4. Chapter 4

Muffins: Sorry this chapter took so long to get up! Loads of internet troubles and some writer's block, but I have started on chapter five already, so it won't take as long!

Judai: And that's a good thing apparently!

Asuka: I demand to be included in this bit!

Muffins: Then do the disclaimer! It counts for last chapter too 'cause I forgot to do one then.

Asuka: Muffins does not own the stuff in the fic or any of the stuff related to it.

Judai: Including me?

Johan: Especially you! You're mine!

Asuka: Judai is mine!

Rei: *appears* No, mine!

Johan&Asuka: Not yours! *Rei disappears*

Judai: I'm confused…

Muffins: *has been daydreaming about eating muffins (it's not cannibalism in this case if it isn't a capital M)* Wait, wut?

Johan: Why do I have to work with her? …

Judai: Enough talking, chapter starts now!

~Spirited…~

Asuka waited for Judai just outside the boiler room door, now carrying the dishes from earlier in the wicker basket. "Hurry up. Don't get lost, and keep close behind me." Without waiting for a reply, she led the way between a corridor of pipes of varying size and colour; similar to those Judai had seen on his way to the boiler room, but these ones were not spitting out clouds of steam. Asuka moved quickly, weaving her way between the pipes with ease. The slight sound that her bare feet made was covered by the gurgling of water and the sound of creaking as the old tall building was bombarded by the wind. The pipes that flanked Asuka and Judai's path gave way to cogs, half hidden below the floor, so that only the tops of them showed, although some smaller ones were completely exposed. They came to a set of cogs which had large thick ropes attached to them, reaching up to the roof of the building, as though they were strangler figs in a rainforest reaching up towards the sun. The lifts that the ropes operated clung to the ropes like bugs, fearing the fall to the floor far below, and it was into one of these that Asuka led Judai, after checking that no-one was inside it, and pulled a lever that made the lift jolt slightly as it set off up to the higher floors of the bathhouse.

Asuka shoved Judai behind her as the lift moved up, speeding up as it went. The walls of the lift were planks of wood, with slim gaps between them, showing a view of the large selection of baths below that were filled with groups of spirits, as the lift rose. Even from the considerable height that Asuka and Judai had already reached, it was still possible to hear the distorted sounds of various spirits shouting, grunting, warbling and cheeping to one another as the sounds echoed strangely off the high ceiling. Similarly, the sounds of water splashing out of baths, into baths, on the floor and onto the floor added to the background noise considerably. Presently this was replaced with a featureless wall, signalling that they were reaching the higher floors, where the owner of the bathhouse lived. As the lift neared the highest floor it reached, and began to slow down, Asuka told Judai "Stay close behind me, if they see you now, we're both in even more trouble than we would have been in before." Judai nodded silently, nervous about his current situation, and mildly terrified at the thought of what lay ahead.

The lift came to a gentle stop and the doors opened, revealing a large, fat spirit which had small black eyes partially hidden under what looked like an upside-down red salad bowl, and was a strange light grey-brown colour. It could almost have been a giant walking porridge-monster, and wasn't something you would want to encounter in a dark alleyway, due to it both looking like it was made of porridge, and being disturbingly almost naked, as it was only wearing the salad bowl and a loincloth. It grumbled something deeply and pointed to the ceiling with one sludgy light brown finger. Asuka instantly beamed at it "Sorry, this lift doesn't go any higher, the ones that do are this way." And she set off, with a baffled Judai in tow. The spirit plodded sedately after her, its feet squeaking slightly with every step. She reached the next set of lifts quickly, and once again shoved Judai against the wall and stood in front of him, hiding him from view. Before the spirit arrived, she muttered to him under her breath, "You'll have to go to the top floor of the bathhouse on your own. I can't go up any higher than this, I'm not authorised to so I wouldn't have any excuse, but you can hide behind the radish spirit pretty well."

"The what?"

"The spirit following us." Asuka stopped talking as said spirit squeaked to a halt next to them.

One the lift doors creaked as it slid open, revealing the lift to be empty. Asuka pushed Judai into the lift and showed the radish spirit into it as if it was all she had intended to do; he was followed into the lift by said radish spirit, which almost squashed him as it took up nearly all the available space. Judai was thankful at that moment that he managed to stay thin somehow, despite having a very large appetite. The last Judai saw of Asuka before the radish spirit pulled a lever by the side of the door and it slid shut was her being glomped by a brunette a couple of years older than her yelling "Asuka-chan!~" while a group of towel-clad spirits which he had been leading somewhere, then abandoned, looked on, looking severely miffed.

On a slightly related note that is in no way relevent to the progression on the plot, the brunette in question was Asuka's older brother, Fubuki, and she could barely go a day without something of this sort happening. These encounters more often than not ended with Fubuki getting attacked by Asuka, until he left her alone. These attacks varied day to day and the nature of them depended of what Asuka was doing at the time. Now back to the plot.

Meanwhile, Judai was far more concerned about being able to breathe than about the nature of the relationship between the siblings. This task was made considerably harder when he and the radish spirit tried to do it at the same time. Eventually the lift slowed, and the doors opened, revealing a corridor that was much quieter than the hall downstairs and was lined with rooms. Judai guessed these held larger, personal, baths, as alternative to the crowded ones for groups on the lower floors. The radish spirit seemed to know where it was going as it squeezed through the lift doors and squeakily waddled along the corridor, before entering one of the rooms.

Judai was left alone in the lift, with no idea what to do next: the lift he was in didn't go any higher, but Asuka had told him to go to the top. It didn't look like any powerful sorceresses lived there, it was just more baths. He was distracted from his confusedness in the corner of the lift by a loud splash and as gush of water flowed out of one of the doors, signalling that the radish spirit had got in its bath. Judai stepped out of the lift, looked around properly, and noticed a sliding door next to the lift. It exactly matched the creamy wall next to it, and would have been completely invisible if it hadn't been open a tiny bit, so that a sliver of silver gleamed out at him. Curious, Judai slid the door back properly, to reveal an out-of-place, modern, shiny silver lift. It was the complete opposite of the wooden construction that he had travelled in previously. Judai pressed the button in the panel next to it and the doors slid silently open, to reveal the equally shiny mirrors on the inside. The carpet on the floor however, was a deep, rich purple. Judai stepped in, his feet luxuriating in the texture of the carpet, and looked around, but couldn't find a panel with a choice of floors. The doors slid shut behind him without him having to do anything, which was a little unnerving. The lift set off smoothly, the mechanism driving it humming slightly but otherwise silent. For once, lift music in a lift would have been a comforting additional feature. Luckily, the lift only rose one floor before it stopped, reducing the amount of time Judai's brain had to think, realise that this was probably a very stupid thing to be doing, and tell the rest of him, even though the rest of him usually didn't listen to his brain anyway.

The lift doors dinged quietly as they opened, allowing Judai to step out of the lift. The doors promptly slid shut behind him, leaving him stranded where he was as there was no lift calling button on this floor. Judai found himself in a large room, the marble floor shining and white and equally clean-looking white walls. A pair of ornamental white vases decorated with black dragons stood on white podiums, flanking the lift doors, which were just as shining and silver as their counterparts downstairs. A large silver candle-filled chandelier hung from the ceiling, only on closer inspection, the candles were not real, and the flames light-bulbs. The chandelier was only there for decoration, anyway, as a huge window was set into one of the walls, at the moment filling the room with silvery moonlight. A pair of tall black doors with clear diamond handles was clearly visible in the opposite wall, contrasting with the wall around them. A pair of vases flanked these doors too, but the dragons were silver, and the vases themselves were black, matching the podiums they stood on. Apart from a pair of black leather sofas to one side with a glass topped table between them, there was no furniture in the room. Despite this, whoever had built this room must have had a lot of money to do so. Judai shivered, the prospect of such an opponent scared him, so he hurried over to the black doors, not wanting his bare feet to be in contact with cold marble for any longer than was strictly necessary, and, finding when he got there that it had no door handle, pushed it. It refused to budge. A female voice, which was probably that of the sorceress, rang out across the room, echoing a little in the large empty space and making Judai jump. "I am busy at the moment. Please be patient and hopefully I will be able to speak with you shortly."

With nothing else to do for the moment, as is would clearly be hopeless to try to break in, Judai moved over to the leather sofas and sat on the edge of one, drew his feet up off the cold floor onto the sofa in front of him and hid his face in his knees. Meanwhile, in the office next door, the sorceress watched him through the tiny camera hidden in the black eye of the dragon on one of the ornamental vases flanking the black doors. She wasn't seeing someone, Judai just interested her. So much so that she was sitting at her desk holding her head up with her hands, staring intently at the plasma screen opposite her displaying the camera footage. She spoke to the person next to her "He's got this far on his own?"

The bluenette at her shoulder stayed silent, ignoring the question and instead gazing at the screen as well.

"Not feeling talkative today?" She sighed quietly to herself "I might as well let him in; he's not going to go away in a hurry. Leave, I will see him on my own." She sat back snapped her fingers, releasing a spark of magic into the air, causing the television to melt into the wall, and to be replaced by a pair of black doors. She didn't look around as she heard the click of a door closing as her companion left the room.

In the cavernous room, Judai heard a click echo around the room, and looked up. Nothing looked any different, but a faint emerald glow was shimmering around the doors. As Judai watched, a pair of diamond-shaped door handles eased their way out of whatever the doors were made out of. The glowing died away, but the handles remained. Judai got tentatively to his feet, feeling nervous. The voice rang out again, a little annoyed this time "Hurry up; I've got things to do". Judai walked over to the doors, gathering his confidence, pulled one of them open and walked in. It slammed shut behind him, catching him from behind and pushing him properly into the room. He stumbled slightly, and looked back to find that the doors had already melted away, there was no way out now. "Are you going to say something, or just stare at a wall, I don't have all day." Judai turned to the source of the voice and froze as he saw the sorceress for the first time.

~Spirited…~

Sorceress: Little do they know I DO have all day…

Asuka: The suspense!

Muffins: Asuka, shoo! You are no longer in the thing!

Asuka: But I was in it last chapter and I didn't say anything at the end of it!

Manjoume: *appears* Me too! How could you do it to me of all people! I am superior to everyone! Etc.

Muffins: Go away! *Manjoume and Asuka disappear*

Johan: How did I escape not being thrown out when I wasn't in the chapter?

Muffins: You two are like, always here. Other people come and go.

Judai: Bored now. I'm off to find something to eat…

Muffins: Return next chapter! Be there or don't find out… err… something! Yeah… *swooshes cloak and disappears*


	5. Chapter 5

Muffins: Hello again.

Readers: *blank looks* Who are you?

Muffins: Yeah. Sorry for this chapter taking so long.

Judai: You didn't even have school as an excuse most of the time…

Muffins: I was in other countries without my laptop!

Johan: Sure.

Judai: Does I really count as an excuse?

Johan: Not in the slightest.

Muffins: I had about a cubic foot of pancake for breakfast one day, and ate lunch and dinner…

Judai: Meh. I eat that much normally!

Muffins: Mmm… I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh GX or… Do you know what; just go read the disclaimer in the first chapter. It'll make it a lot easier for everyone.

_~Spirited…~_

The room was silent as Judai and the sorceress watched each other. The sorceress' green eyes flashed over Judai's messy brown hair, still-damp red jacket, white trousers and black shirt before focusing on his terrified expression. Judai glanced up at the room briefly: the dark shining brown wooden floor, the lower half of the walls slightly less shiny, carved wooden panelling made of the same sort of wood as the floor, leaving the upper half of the walls a light goldy cream. This was except for the wall of windows and glass double doors that led out to a large tiled balcony, all behind a desk with ornate twisting legs carved from what looked like oak. Behind this desk in a high-backed chair with twisting legs that matched those of the table sat a woman with black hair: the sorceress. A fringe tipped with purple, the same colours as the rest of her hair, came low over the emerald eyes underneath but in no way dimmed their piercing brightness. A green downwards-pointing triangle the exact same shade of emerald was tattooed on her right cheekbone. The same cheek was rested on her hand, with the elbow propped on the table. She wore smart black trousers and a dark purple sleeveless blouse.

The sorceress and Judai held each other's gaze without saying anything for a moment, before Judai realised that the look in her eye meant that she expected him to talk first. Unsure of what to say and feeling like his mind was blurring at the edges, Judai opened his mouth anyway then closed it again. Another look flashed in the clear emerald orbs that he was watching so closely. "Did you come here to do anything other than waste my time?"

Judai started for a moment, but the silence had been broken and he remembered what he had to do. "I want you to give me a job here."

The sorceress blinked, sitting up a little before leaning back and narrowing her eyes slightly. "I should have introduced myself first, how rude of me." The next words were said carelessly, their meaning had long since been lost as a result of repeated identical introductions to innumerable insignificant individuals over the many long years. "I am the owner of this bathhouse, but since I am also currently the most powerful being in Spirit World, in a way I rule this part of it and have done so for several decades, even if it was never officially me in charge. My name is Yubel. And yours?"

"Judai Yuuki."

"A human in Spirit World, it's a very rare occurrence. It's very unusual that three humans including yourself were able to get through the barriers guarding it from outsiders. Also strange that you came all this way by yourself, or so I assume." A very pointed half-glare was thrown towards him for a split second. "I know for a fact that you didn't come alone, so who saved you where your friends failed?" Unfortunately Judai concentrated on the wrong part of the sentence.

"How did you know about my friends?"

Yubel closed her eyes and sighed mentally. Oh joy. Another annoying one. She thought talking to Fubuki had been bad enough, but he had definitely been the worst in recent years. She was slightly surprised however, when she opened her eyes to see a determined half-frown instead of a terror, confusion or alarm as was usually what she saw. Perhaps this one wasn't annoying, a little stupid maybe, but he seemed to understand the situation somewhat at least. Yubel had no time to trail off down this line of thought and ponder whether or not he may be a different kind of annoying, as Judai was clearly expecting some form of answer, and she might as well give him one.

Judai watched as Yubel blinked slowly, and then looked him straight in the eye again. "Let's change the subject again. First though: I was alerted right away that you three had arrived here, I would be stupid not to have some way of knowing these things. I also know where your companions are, but that's irrelevant. On to more pressing matters, I can't just sit here and believe that you got here on your own, so who helped you?"

"Where are Rei and Jim?"

"I can tell you that, Judai, but only once you let me know who helped you get here."

"You know where they are, so please tell me."

At this point Yubel realised she shouldn't have mentioned the people he came with any more, and made a mental note about this, at the same time pushing down the frustration this boy was causing. She had been wrong: he was dim and annoying at the same time. She rested her forehead on her hand, drumming the fingers on her other hand on the desk top and breathed slowly. She looked up again. How had he managed to be so frustrating in such a short time? At least when she first tried talking to other people, she realised they would be annoying from the start and managed talking to them in a way that actually got the conversation going somewhere, even if it took a while. In that moment she made a decision, it would make him stop talking about the other humans, hopefully, and then she could question him properly without so much sidetracking, or any sidetracking ideally. It could be a bit risky, she knew very little about this boy, but she did know that he annoyed the hell out of her, so she wanted this whole thing to be over asap.

Judai watch as Yubel pushed her high-backed chair out from her desk. She pulled a small old-looking key that had probably been brightly polished of her trouser pocket, used it to open drawer in the side of her desk, and then started rummaging around inside it, clearly looking for something. "You really want to know where they are? Let me show you." Judai looked around in alarm, had Rei and Jim been in this room the entire time? Yubel found whatever she was looking for and closed the drawer, locking it again. She stood up fully for the first time, and reached out her arm to show Judai something resting in her open hand. The something was two gems, each one about the size of a small marble. One was orangey shot with red and a little brown, and was very smooth-edged; the other looked rougher, with a slightly uneven surface, and was a smooth green-blue. Both gems seemed to glow with an inner light that would be useless for lighting any size room, but made them glint and gleam.

"What?-"

"These are their souls, extracted from their bodies, concentrated to the smallest forms possible and solidified. I do it to people who get through the barrier, it just makes them much easier to deal with, more -" It sounded as though she was enjoying what she was doing: mocking him, showing Judai how close his friends so close, and yet still trapped; literally in the palm of her hand.

Judai's vision darkened, the room wobbled around him. Hearing became muffled. His head was pounding, breathing restricted. His legs felt weak. He struggled to retain consciousness, afraid of what Yubel might do if he collapsed. The last thing he heard before he passed out: "-would die instantly-"

A little later, Yubel was clearing away papers from her desk top, when she heard a moan from the floor. A glance over the top of her desk told her that Judai was stirring and so would probably be asking questions again in a couple of minutes. She sighed under her breath at the prospect of it and began placing the last remaining papers in their respective drawers, pausing only to check again that the spirits inside the soul drawer were all there, and all safe before locking it again and stowing away the appropriate key. On the ground in front of the desk, Judai dragged himself off the hard, polished floor onto his knees, and looked over at Yubel, seeing her push her windswept-looking fringe over her forehead, which seemed to have something-

Yubel shut the last drawer with a satisfying clunk, leaving only one piece of paper left on the desk, which she picked up along with a pen and slid off the end of the desk to land in front of Judai's knees. "There's your contract to work here, sign your name at the bottom." Judai blinked in confusion at the contract. Yubel saw this obvious lack of understanding and added "It was the first thing you said when you came in, and I'm not allowed to refuse anyone a job if there are some available. But remember that I can fire you straight away if you take too long about it and waste any more of my time. So get signing." Yubel walked away to a door hidden in the wall in the corner of the room and disappeared through it for a moment, before she returned to the chair behind her desk.

In this time Judai had vaguely skimmed contract, which looked long and boring and signed his name at the bottom of it. _Judai Yuuki_. The paper slid out along the floor and away from him, spiralling up one of the wooden legs of Yubel's chair, coming to a rest on the arm rest; the pen too leapt into the air, but came to rest neatly parallel to the edge of the desk. Yubel picked it up and began to look through it, at the same time standing up again and clicking her fingers. Judai pulled himself to his feet and heard a door opening and closing. He looked around to see Johan had entered through the door that Yubel had just been through. He looked at Judai, meeting his gaze with his emerald eyes, and smiled for a moment before Yubel turned to him. "Johan, this is Judai. Please take him downstairs and put in him in whichever department needs him. Judai, follow Johan." With this, she made a waving gesture at the far wall, and the large black doors with diamond handles that Judai had used earlier appeared, accompanied by the same faint sparkling emerald glow from before as they slid out of the wall.

Johan bowed slightly to Yubel and left, with Judai trailing behind him. Yubel watched them leave, then dismissed the doors with a second wave of her hand and collapsed into her chair, thinking about what had just happened. She concluded it would be best not to dwell on it, and busied herself instead with the contract she had dropped on the desk top in front of her, preparing the charm usually required for what she was about to do.

Meanwhile, Johan was leading Judai into an elevator that would take them to the ground floor, where Judai would be assigned to a department. He would then stay in this department perhaps for the rest of the time he was working in the bathhouse, and who knew how long that would be: the way things looked, he could be stuck here for years trying to get Rei and Jim back to normal, and then all three of them safely back to the Human World. Judai was wondering about his future and what it would be like if he was stuck here for years, when the lift jolted to a halt, the doors pinged open and Johan lead the way out, pausing only to make sure that Judai was actually behind him. Judai followed, but at the same time a shiver ran momentarily down his spine and was gone, the only thing it left behind being an overwhelming feeling that something in this place was very wrong.

_~Spirited…~_

Muffins: That's right, the sorceress is Yubel! *said from inside flame-proof bunker* (Yubel is the bad guy in this, but she's actually one of my favourite characters) Sorry about her (I think Yubel is a girl) being massively OOC. I admit she is basically an OC with the name of an actual character, but I couldn't think of any other way for it to work. Never fear, though! I think I know where this is going!

Johan: You mean you have a plan for this?

Muffins: Yep! That's why people who've seen Spirited Away might be (will be) confused, but if I do some stuff it could work ok.

Yubel: Is she always like this?

Judai: Yes, it can't be helped… We know from experience…

Muffins: Thanks to those who reviewed, it's because of you people that I haven't already given up on this story yet.

Johan: *looking confused at bunker* Are you coming out of there anytime soon?

Muffins: I fear the consequences of my actions…


	6. Chapter 6

Eh… Sorry about the wait, I got distracted by another fandom and kinda forgot his one existed… Yeah I know it's a terrible excuse. Oak-chan is indirectly responsible for me posting this update. She updated her stories recently, and that reminded me "Wait, I'm meant to be writing one too!"

I guess this is like a very late merry-Christmas-oh-my-gah-Muffins-did-an update, since I am really bad at doing one-shots for special occasions. Wow it really is late for Christmas...

So, enjoy, or at least try to. I warn you, there's not much plot to be had here, mainly explanations… (Wow, way to sell the chapter…)

Disclaimer-No, I still don't own it.

_~Spirited…~_

The first time Judai slept after signing his contract with Yubel, his sleep was plagued with emerald fire and the ruins of a city swathed in black snow, which was continuing to flow endlessly from the sky like sub-zero soot. Drowning in flames and ice simultaneously. The snow fills Judai's eyes, his ears, his lungs, his veins and arteries, working its way to his heart. His feet get caught in it; he falls; he burns; he freezes; he reaches out for the hand that he wishes so desperately will clasp his and pull him to safely. He tries to call out, to get the attention of the radiant pure figure he can see, the only thing in this world that isn't crumbling and falling to pieces. The outline of that boy shines out to him through the layers of light-consuming snow surrounding everything; he is untouched by the fire that licks at the ruins and Judai's flesh and his light is undimmed by the snows that smothers all else. The boy turns, sadness fills his eyes just like the crystal tears that fall from them. Two crystals hit the ground and lay on top of the snow, changing and becoming brightly coloured for a moment before turning black and rotting like everything else in the barren landscape. The boy reaches for Judai; a sort of desperation and longing shows on his face; the snow's grip loosens; Judai's hand flails through the air; he is searching for the safety the other boy is offering, all the while unwavering and unaffected by surrounding chaos. The boy smiles, sure that Judai will soon be free, and the fire dies. Now only Judai's shins are trapped under the snow, the rest is retreating from the glowing fingers reaching, reaching. He stretches out to the approaching hand, hope replacing the pain that filled him. The other boy's fingers halt; he recoils; his eyes are fixed just above Judai's head; terror and regret flood his face; he turns; he runs; he flees; he leaves Judai behind. He doesn't look back. He disappears between the ruins, which then crumble to nothingness. A hurricane of fire swallows up Judai, lifting him out of the remaining snow and melting it, but separating him from the other boy.

_You're mine now, _The fire embraces Judai lovingly, stiflingly, caressing his half-frozen limbs. _Don't let anyone get between us. _Caresses over his body turn to slashes. A sliver of inferno slices into his still-beating heart.

_Judai! _A new voice, concerned, not very loud.

_Are you alright?_ Judai was suffering.

_Judai! _If he fell deeper asleep he wouldn't have to suffer. He was tired.

_Judai! _So tired… He just needed to sleep…

_Wake up! _Why should he?

_Damnit… _A moment more of blankness persisted before Judai felt cold water splash over his face.

Judai gasped, returning to consciousness, panting quietly. He thrashed upright, fighting back blankets and a pair of cool hands. He pressed his hand to his heart, checking for a gaping wound. After finding just his pyjamas and a thin layer of sweat covering his body, instead of blistered gashes, Judai collapsed backwards onto his blankets, and closed his eyes against the darkness of the room. Judai's shoulders began to shake slightly, then a little more, and he curled up against the pain in his dream. A gentle hand rubbed Judai's back, accompanied by the voice from his dream that spoke to him softly. "It's alright, Judai. It was just a nightmare." Johan murmured.

Judai lay curled up until he shivered because of his sweat and the water Johan had thrown on his face making him cold, not because he was still afraid of the choking flames or the suffocating presence which had dominated his dream. He pulled the blankets around himself, trying to regain at least some heat, then realised that Johan was still there, sitting silently but rubbing his back in small circular motions. He sat up, holding the blanket wrapped around him.

"Why are you here?"

The room was dark, but Judai could still see the outline of Johan sitting on the end of his bed, hands now in his lap. "I thought you'd be confused about what was going on here. It's a bit too complicated to explain here and now," Judai could hear him shifting and looking around at the other sleeping boys sharing the room. He turned back and reached for Judai's forehead, fumbling a little in the dark, and rested his hand there. As before, a stream of images entered Judai's mind, settling in this memory as Johan spoke to him. "As soon as you can, come to the shore of the river, it'll be dry, but you can't cross it now: Yubel has strengthened the borders with the Human World. I'll meet you there" He lifted his hand from Judai's head and left the room softly, sneaking between barely-visible beds and piles of clothes on the floor.

Judai burrowed deeper into his blankets once he heard the door slide shut, now with the prospect of seeing Johan again to stop his from falling asleep like the rest of the boys in his dorm room. Judai had been lucky in this respect: when Johan had taken him to the main greeting hall in the bathhouse to decide which department he would work in, Asuka had been there, and had jumped in to say that she needed more workers in hers since a couple of them had got in an argument with a customer over whether or not they had reserved a bath which had resulted in their existence being discontinued quite violently. Neither worker could have known that other spirit had just returned from possessing a cactus in the Human World, so would be particularly aggressive, or they wouldn't have dared to approach it. In short: Asuka had needed a worker, and Judai needed somewhere to work. She had passed responsibility for his lodgings to another boy who worked under her, Shou. While Shou had organized Judai's sleeping arrangements and new uniform, Asuka would still be in charge of him during his work shifts for the first couple of weeks or so, so that he would learn what the work he had to do involved.

Judai waited until his body had returned to its normal temperature before shifting from his cocoon of bedding. He felt around for his own uniform, freshly cleaned for him to start work in a few hours time, and sneaked out onto the balcony overlooking the town to change. He sat down and relaxed a little in the sun: the bathhouse and the rest of the Spirit World hid during the daytime and came out with the moon. Now free of his fear, Judai found the sun warming his skin, ridding it of the last of his shivers. As he watched a solitary bird skimming along the bottoms of clouds, Judai felt distant from his dream, now a stupid thing to be scared of. It was only his imagination, it couldn't hurt him. He pulled off his pyjama top to find a smear of blood over his heart. Thankfully just a smear, not an actual open wound, as Judai wiped it off to find the skin underneath intact, but it still unnerved him that perhaps his dreams would affect his physical being, since he was now in another world.

He remembered Johan, waiting for him to come to the river, and hurried to change his clothes as fast and quietly as he could. This proved difficult when he found himself hopping around with one leg in his trousers, trying desperately not to either go over the edge of the balcony or smash his head into or through the thin wall on the other side of which were sleeping people.

Once properly clothed he slid back into the room to leave his pyjamas behind before slipping through the door to the rest of the bathhouse. Judai passed through the boiler room, to find that Manjoume was asleep, sitting in the same position as he had the previous day, but now snoring. Judai was soon running up the stairs that curved around the outside of the bathhouse, all the while catching the sun in his eyes. As he reached the bridge and stopped to catch his breath, Judai saw a spirit on the ahead of him. The spirit seemed to be a white mask with a kind of black cape attached, drifting just above the ground and watching Judai with its blank face. Judai eyed it warily: he hadn't seen this kind of spirit before: most of the workers in the bathhouse were either human-looking or akin to frogs. This spirit's white face seemed real, solid, frozen in place, but the black cloth-like substance drifting behind it was insubstantial, like black mist or fog. Still panting, Judai coughed, bowing his head and gasping to restore his breathing. When he looked up, the spirit had disappeared.

Judai ran on, across the bridge, through the gate and garden he and Johan had come through before, through side-streets and alleyways, finding his way using the images that Johan had placed in his mind just before. He eventually reached the same part of the dry riverbed where Johan had found him passed-out under a tree; the same tree which Johan now stood leaned against patiently, waiting for Judai's arrival. Judai stopped, his face flushed from the exercise, and bent over panting. Johan removed himself from the tree trunk and moved over to sit in front of Judai, who then slumped down onto his butt with his hands behind him as his breathing slowed. Johan smiled, suppressing a laugh at Judai's worn out expression and clear lack of motivation. He watched, still smiling, as the other boy gave up on propping himself up with his hands and flopped onto his back to gaze up, only half-seeing at the sky. Judai was one of the most fascinating people he knew, perhaps even had ever known, he had lost track of all his acquaintances after his first century in the Spirit World. How long was it exactly? More than a century, but more accurately than that… Johan used to know, he was sure he had, but he must have forgotten at some point. He guessed living for multiple centuries did that to a person. He was thankful he seemed to have physically stopped aging long ago, but then again, all spirits did at some point. Johan shuddered to think what most of Spirit World would be like if they didn't. Yubel for certain would be much different. She was far older than him, but most spirits were, and there weren't many older than her. He didn't know much about the Spirit World's history, but he knew there had been some kind of war here half a century or so before he arrived, possibly more. Johan's musings were broken by Judai, who finished panting, sat up, and looked at Johan with an expectant expression.

"So,"

"So…?"

"You said you were going to tell me how stuff works here."

"Ok. First, tell me your name." He leaned forwards slightly.

"Judai."

Johan bit his lip and furrowed his brow. "Your full name, can you remember it?"

"My full name is Judai." Even as he said it, the words felt odd in Judai's mouth. His full name? That felt wrong, something about that phrase…

Johan sat back again: Yubel had been quick to work on Judai's contract it seemed. "What about your last name?"

"Last name?"

"It's how Yubel keeps control over the spirits that work for her: she steals their names. Once a spirit completely forgets their last name, that's it, they're hers, they can never leave her service." He looked a little sad as he quietly said the second part: he had obviously forgotten what he was called a long time ago.

Judai couldn't remember half of his own name. How had that happened? He tried again to recall it, but part of his mind still refused to acknowledge that his last name actually existed. "So… do you know what my last name is?" If Johan didn't know, Judai would be trapped in the Spirit World.

Johan pointed to a small bundle at the bottom of the tree he had been leaning against. Judai hurried over to it on his hands and knees and pulled it gently open to reveal his clothes. They looked a little rumpled but they always did anyway, so not much change there. Judai was confused, why had Johan pointed his to this now? He picked up his jacket and tried to smooth it out, frowning a little, and a glinting object fell out of its pocket. He dropped his jacket and snatched up the metal bangle that an old friend had given him years ago. He ran his fingers over it and found the familiar grooves in the metal: the thing that Johan had wanted to show him. His name, _Judai Yuuki_, carved into it crudely years ago by a childhood friend he could no longer properly remember. Judai Yuuki. That was him. How had he forgotten so easily? Judai's fingers were numb as he slid the bangle back onto his wrist, where it had always been. He wouldn't lose it again; he would have to hold onto it. He didn't want to think what would happen if he lost it.

"You'll need those clothes for when you return to the Human World. You won't be able to pass the barrier if you're wearing something else. I couldn't find your shoes and socks, though."

Judai had half-forgotten that Johan was there, knees now up in front of him with his hands linked around them, fingers loosely entwined together. Judai thought briefly how elegant Johan looked: leaning back a little, his fingers so long and delicate-looking, the sun shining off his skin, hair falling over his eyes… His eyes with their serious look.

Judai moved over and sat in front of Johan again, holding his bundle of clothes tightly. He knew where his footwear was: Manjoume's soot bunnies still had them. He had seen one of the toes of his socks sticking out of one of the holes in the wall when he had passed through the boiler room earlier. What else is there I need to know? Don't leave anything out."

Johan explained, doing his best to include the basics. He told Judai how the Spirit World was connected to the Human World in a way, and although the humans that occasionally stumbled across the border were fine in the Spirit World for a time, any spirit left unprotected in the Human World would soon die as their 'essence' was eaten away by the physical world. The 'essence' was what humans would call a soul or a life-force, and if it disappeared that was the end for the spirit. The Spirit World provided a much less harsh environment for unprotected spirits than the Human World, so most spirits did not risk crossing the borders between one world and another. Some of the weaker ones had been known to be torn apart just by stepping across a border, before they even had to face the ravages of the other world. Occasionally a spirit might die from just passing too close to the edge between the worlds when the wind blew into the Spirit World from across the border. Suffice it to say, the majority of spirits avoided nearing the border, and even fewer attempted to cross it.

With spirits dying, some in this way, others from injury or sheer length of life, new spirits would have to appear to replace those that had died. These came in the form of human souls, occasionally those of animals too, but it was more common to get a human soul. Usually the soul of the first human to die after the spirit in question would then pass across the border, and come into existence properly as a spirit shortly after. The spirit produced rarely looked like they had in their past life, or indeed remembered it. Sometimes one did, but Yubel was quick to wipe their memories out of their mind as soon as she could. Every so often, a spirit would appear when something they were possessing in the Human World was destroyed, for example, when a river dries up or a particular old tree falls. Spirits generally preferred to possess inanimate objects, since they lasted longer than living things and it didn't take as much effort to continue existing.

Johan broke off for a moment to look at Judai, who he found was gazing at him intently, but didn't seem to have understood most of it. This suspicion was confirmed when Judai, not taking his eyes off Johan's apple-green ones, just said "I don't really get it…"

Johan mentally face-palmed a little. He took a breath, how best to summarise the basic knowledge about the two worlds? He would have to leave out even more information. "Humans can travel into the Spirit World, and they're usually fine, but spirits in the Human World die very quickly. Spirits that die are usually replaced with the souls of dead people. You understand that ok?"

Judai nodded, then his eyes widened. "So you're a dead person?"

"Yeah, I died, but I'm not dead at the moment, I don't think." Johan shrugged "It depends how you define 'dead'."

"If I'm here, does that mean that I'm dead?" Judai panicked, if he was dead, he couldn't go home. If he was, would that mean that Rei and Jim were dead too?

"No, you're a human, you don't turn into a spirit when you cross over; you're just a human in the wrong world." Hadn't Judai been listening to what he just said?

"And if I die here?"

"That's it; as far as anyone knows, if a spirit dies they just cease to exist. That goes for humans in Spirit World too." Johan drifted into his thoughts again. He was doomed to die again, but when he did this time, he wouldn't even know who he really was. He had spent hours trying to remember, just sitting and searching through his mind for anything out of place: a half-sensation, the echo of an unfamiliar voice he knew well, a faint whiff of a scent he'd never smelled, even a vague air of _something_ he couldn't place a time and date on. The hours had added up to days, certainly, but nothing more: Johan had surrendered to the fact he would never know who he had originally been; all spirits did in the end if they didn't want to lose their sanity.

Johan imagined that Judai was thinking similar thoughts, after all, who wouldn't, Johan reasoned, considering what their conversation had been about? Judai was now lying on his back again, his bundle of clothes hugged to his chest, gazing at clouds without seeing them properly. Johan distracted himself from the past by watching a small breeze ruffle Judai's hair. It looked soft. Even though it was messy and wild, and he clearly hadn't even attempted to tame his bed-hair yet, but still looked soft. What would it feel like to caress Judai's hair? Johan was tempted to find out.

Judai wasn't thinking about death or how his life would end at all, as Johan had suspected. His brain felt tired, so he wasn't really thinking about anything. He was feeling drained, the events since his entry to the Spirit World weighing him down. The sun was warm on his face, the breeze stroking his hair and dancing over his skin, the grass beneath him was soft. Judai yawned: he hadn't slept well that day, haunted by visions, and before that had stayed awake for a whole 24 hours that had involved physical exercise. This was a particularly big thing for Judai, as he usually had to nap during breaks at school, and even then there was no guarantee he wouldn't be snoring on his desk in the next lesson.

Johan watched as Judai closed his eyes, his breathing slowed and his grip on his clothes loosened. He looked so peaceful, just looked at Judai now made Johan feel more optimistic about what might lay ahead for him. Johan smiled, before moving to sit next to Judai and reaching over to him, running his fingers lightly through Judai's hair: it was soft, if tangled with bits of grass in it. Johan gently pulled out some of the bits of grass, careful not to wake the boy dozing in front of him. Judai didn't respond, probably already too far into the realms of sleep to notice. Johan sat back, still stroking the other boy's hair but no longer looking at him. Johan yawned, a little surprised at how fast the sun was starting to fall towards the horizon. Soon the bathhouse would wake up, and no-one could know that Johan and Judai had met that day; they had to be in their beds before anyone noticed they weren't.

Judai made his way back to his room, asleep, in Johan's arms. The boy carefully manoeuvred his way around the sleeping people there before caringly lowering his sleeping charge into his bed and covering him with a blanket. He slid the bundle of clothes under his pillow, for Judai to find again when he woke later. Johan could barely make out Judai's face in the darkness, but didn't what he did see was very peaceful. _He's so cute…_ Johan blinked and shook himself. Where did that come from? He turned to go, face a little pink, and took a couple of steps, then stopped again. He couldn't go just yet. It was almost as though there was something else he had to do, but hadn't done yet. He found himself again by Judai's side, unsure of what to do next. He paused for a moment, frowning, before his face cleared and a small, caring, smile faded into existence. Johan crouched down, brushing the Judai's fringe aside, crouching down, and pressed his lips fleetingly against the other's forehead. He shifted his weight back again and stood up, running his fingers through Judai's hair one final time before picking his way across the darkened room and pausing momentarily in the doorway, to look back at the boy's sleeping form one final time, before sliding the door shut silently behind him.

_~Spirited…~_

Sorry again that it took so long, but I think this chapter is by far the longest so far. That kinda makes up for the time it took, right? Riiiiight? (No. Damnit.) Derp-a-derp there's stuff in this chapter that makes no sense. I blame the time, it moves too fast and I'm tired now (Gah! It's 1:30a.m. How did that happen?). I'll try to do the next bit faster, but I've got mock exams in a couple of days (then why did I finish this instead of revising?) and then real exams… *removes glasses, head-tables* I shouldn't be up now, I need to revise…

Reading this over again. A random vision thingy and hair-stroking? I blame the fandom which distracted me: it had both of those things. Yeah… *drifts into my own brain then snaps out of it* But I bring good news: there will be more Spiritshipping in the next chapters so yay!

Thank you to anyone who's actually reading this! You make writing it worthwhile! You are also wonderful people for not killing me for Yubel being so… un-Yubel-like last chapter.

(The A/Ns won't be written like this again unless I've got a lot to say like I did this time)


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